Category Archives: Books

Adventures in Audiobooks… City of Ashes

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city of ashes cassandra clare

 

“With her mother in a coma and her father hell-bent on destroying the world, Clary is dragged deeper into New York’s terrifying underworld of werewolves, demons and the mysterious Shadowhunters. Discovering the truth about her past was only the beginning, now Clary must save the world from her own father – the rogue Shadowhunter Valentine. With two of the Mortal Instruments at his command, Valentine is assembling an army of demons to wage war on the council of Shadowhunters and destroy them once and for all. As the battle begins, Clary must face her darkest fears – and come to terms with her feelings for a boy she wishes wasn’t her brother.”

This is the second book in the Mortal Instruments series and it’s great! I loved the first one and was really happy to get the second one from my library on CD so soon after.

The story carried on where it left off from book one so I don’t want to give too much away. I can say the characters develop further and you get to know them all bit more. Also new characters are introduced, which open the world further as well as going to new places.  More of the history before the books is revealed as well, which helped me make sense of the current story a bit more.

The only thing that I feel uneasy about is the feelings Clary and Jace have for each, when they are brother and sister. It is hinted at there might be more to them than meets the eye, so I am intrigued rather than creeped out. There is definitely more to come.

I now really want to read book three and the books after, but I made myself not buy any more books until I’ve read the ones I’ve got already and I also wanted to read more classics, so I am trying to hold out until I can either get it from the library or from Audible.

I haven’t felt like this about a series for a while and I love it!

Adventures in Audiobooks… Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_FireLast weeks audiobook was the fourth Harry Potter book. I am enjoying re-reading these on my journeys to work. It is nice to listen to them and notice new things, but also for them to be familiar. What I like most about the audiobook form is that the narrator often puts emphasis in places I didn’t when I read the book. It is interesting as I have noticed more things that then come up later in the series from listening to them than when I have re-read them myself.

This is one my favourite books. It follows on from book three in a way that makes the dangers more real. This is the first time you see actual death in the series. It starts to grow up and is no longer a bedtime story, but rather a thriller and mystery. In the third book things were not what they seemed and this books carries on with that. There are questions along the way over who is good and who is bad, but nothing is clear until the end, when it is too late.

I love Stephen Fry. I love his voices for the characters. I also love that you can tell he is enjoying reading the books out loud. There are some audiobooks I’ve felt the narrator has only been reading the book, rather than enjoying it with the reader.

I will say it again, listening to audiobooks have made my commutes extremely more enjoyable than it would be otherwise. I am so glad my library offers a wide variety of books and that Audible has made it affordable to buy the latest books.

If you have the chance to listen to Harry Potter – do it!

 

Adventures in Books… A Streetcat Named Bob

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a0728d1e84566c09824335276-1346318777987Wile travelling to Porto I read the lovely book A Streetcat Named Bob.

I bought this book after seeing it quite a few times while wandering book shops over winter. I finally bought it when I was given a book token.

It’s a lovely story about a recovering addict getting his life back on track and after meeting then adopting a ginger cat he named Bob his life becomes more focused and he wants to move forward.

It’s an easy, quick read, at only took me a few hours.

This book has made me decide I am definitely going to get a cat in the next few months. The companionship and responsibility appeals to a part of me that has been left neglected in recent years. I think that taking care of a living creature will give me focus to, but also company and structure.

This story shows the good in people and that we can put others before ourselves, but benefit from it in good ways. It also shows that some people are not worth your time and can provide the insight into moving on to something new.

This story was about real life, without being an autobiography or preachy. It’s probably not the whole story, but the bits worth telling.

Overall I really enjoyed it and think if you like cats or want a nice story to restore your faith in humanity in small ways then give this book a read. It made me smile, worry and laugh.

Adventures in Audiobooks… One Shot

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I made a change from my normal authors and reads and downloaded a book I fancied seeing what it is was like now its been made into a movie.

“Six shots. Five dead.
A heartland city thrown into terror. But within hours the cops have it solved. A slam-dunk case. Apart from one thing. The accused gunman refuses to talk except for a single phrase:
Get Jack Reacher for me.
Reacher lives off the grid. He’s not looking for trouble. But sometimes trouble looks for him. What could connect the ex-military cop to this psychopathic killer?”

I liked this book. It was very different for me, but similar to Kathy Riechs in terms of crime thriller. This was the 9th in the series and normally I would start at the beginning, but I read some reviews and they seemed to say that it doesn’t really matter about what order you read them in. I have to admit I didn’t really learn anything about the main character Jack Reacher in this book.

The story was interesting. I couldn’t work out how it would end, but they let you in on who did it early on, but not why. That was the bit I couldn’t work out and that kept me engaged.

I was only disappointed that the book ended very quickly. I don’t like when you don’t learn much about the characters after things take place. I am intrigued to read more of this series to see if more character development takes place and I think they will be entertaining and interesting to read.

Adventures in Books… Bones Are Forever

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9780434021147I love Kathy Reichs and her character Temperance Brennan. It is the main crime series I read and I don’t know what it is about them, but I get sucked in every time. The latest one in the series is also the first I’ve listened to as an audiobook.

“A newborn baby is found wedged in a vanity cabinet in a rundown apartment near Montreal. Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist to the province of Quebec, is brought in to investigate. While there, she discovers the mummified remains of two more babies within the same room. Shocked and distressed, Tempe must use all her skills and inner strength to focus on the facts. But when the autopsies reveal that the children died of unnatural causes, the hunt for the mother – a young woman with a seedy past and at least three aliases – is on. The trail leads Tempe to Yellowknife, a cold, desolate diamond-mining town on the edge of the Arctic Circle, where her quest for the truth only throws up more questions, more secrets, and more dead bodies. Taking risks and working alone, Tempe refuses to give up until she has discovered why the babies died. But in such a hostile environment, can she avoid being the next victim?”

This story started out as a simple hunt for a mother who had killed her newborn babies, but turned into something much more complicated. I think this is what I like about them maybe. It’s that the story develops are time goes by and as new evidence is found. It is very much about following the evidence and not always about following the people, as that comes for following the evidence. I also like that they are smart and explain things are they come along, not just assuming the reader knows everything, but also not being patronising. The main character often has to do research and parts of the story are all about this. For example I learned about the diamond and mining industry in Canada. Also I loved that this one was set in Alberta and thought of my friend Ingrid when it went into details of certain places :)

There were definitely parts of the story that seems far fetched. I felt some parts were made as though they could be used for the TV show Bones. But I didn’t really mind as it put action into the story.

The female narrator was good for the female characters, but I did find it hard to distinguish the male characters sometimes. I think that is my one pet peeve of audiobooks, is that there is usually only one narrator. I would love to see a different person for each character. It may be completely annoying, but I would give it a listen.

It was nice to listen to something a bit different last week. I started out listening to something else, but the narrator got completely on my nerves so got out my latest Audible purchase instead and was very glad I did!

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